This disc documents the new style which emerged
in Italian music during the 17th century. In his liner-notes Saverio
Villa juxtaposes the "equilibirium" of the style of the late renaissance
with the virtuosity of the baroque and the important place of affetti.
The former was dominated by counterpoint in which all voices were equal.
In the baroque style the upper voices draw all the attention through
the exploration of the features of the instruments, especially the violin.
Whereas the stile antico of the renaissance was 'objective',
as it were, the affetti resulted in the music of the 17th century
being highly subjective.

Another interesting aspect is the relationship between vocal and instrumental
music. In the renaissance instruments were held in higher esteem the
better they were able to imitate the human voice. In the 17th century
instrumental music became more independent towards the voice and vocal
music. Even so there is a clear connection between them. Many vocal
parts are just as florid and virtuosic as instrumental parts, especially
when they are ornamented according to the rules of the time. In this
respect there was no fundamental difference between sacred and secular
music, other than the text. That tendency continues in the 18th century,
when motets by, for instance, Vivaldi are hardly distinguishable from
the chamber cantatas of his time.

The programme includes specimens of trio sonatas which reflect the virtuosity
of and focus on the upper voices. As the timings indicate they are mostly
rather short, but comprise between three and five movements of a strongly
contrasting character. Alongside sonatas with free invented material
some pieces are based on a tune or song which was quite popular at the
time. Fuggi dolente core is one of them; this song dates from
the late 16th century and was also known as La Mantovana. The
melody found its way into Smetana's Vltava (the Moldau) and the
Israeli national anthem. What exactly the titles of the sonatas by Cazzati
and Legrenzi refer to is not known.

The two vocal items show the influence of the new virtuosic and expressive
style. Monteverdi's Confitebor a Voce sola con violini is a piece
in which voice and violins are fully integrated and imitate each other.
It is one of Monteverdi's most famous pieces; it ends with a figure
in the violin which is then repeated by the voice without accompaniment.

Stradella is stylistically of a later generation. The title of the motet
O vos omnes is well-known: the text has been frequently set as
a responsory for Holy Week. Here it is only used for the opening recitative;
the other recitatives and the arias are on free poetic texts. The word
'recitative' doesn't imply the form we know from the 18th century. It
is accompanied and has the character of an arioso rather than a recitative
in a more or less free rhythm.

The title of this disc refers to a painter of the 17th century whose
early paintings were characterised by naturalism but who later adopted
a more balanced style. This could probably be considered as a reflection
of the state of music in the 17th century as well. The stile nuovo
didn't reign supreme at the music scene. During the whole 17th century
counterpoint still played an important part in composition.

The performances are strongly gestural, exploring the contrasts to the
full. Some shifts between two movements are very abrupt, and these come
off well here. Alena Dantcheva and Michele Andalò give fine accounts
of the two vocal items. The expression in Stradella's cantata is not
lost on Andalò, and Dantcheva deals with the virtuosic ornamentation
in Monteverdi's sacred concertos with impressive ease.

The only disappointment is the short playing time. The reason for that
is a mystery to me. There is certainly no lack of repertoire.